Chapter 354 Return to Ruins
The moment darkness descended, Lin Wan's five senses were instantly overturned.
The next second, she perceived that she had been transported to a void.
There was nothing here; the only thing present was a patch of—nothingness.
She tried to raise her hand. Although she could perceive her limbs clearly, she felt no weight, no temperature, and no sense of touch at all.
It was as if her body had dissolved into this nothingness, leaving only a wisp of consciousness floating in the endless darkness.
The void had no boundaries.
There was no up, no down, no front, back, left, or right.
No reference points existed here, and even the passage of time became indistinct.
Lin Wan tried to circulate Immortal Power, but found that her spiritual power was like a clay ox entering the sea; the moment it left her body, it dissipated without a trace.
Absolute silence swallowed everything.
The only sound in her ears was her own heartbeat; even the sound of blood flowing was incredibly clear.
Lin Wan tried to speak, but she could not hear her own voice.
However, she could clearly feel her vocal cords vibrating.
So that was it—this was the true prison Ji Wuque had arranged for her.
However—so what?
Lin Wan was just about to form a thought to abandon this avatar when the system's voice suddenly rang in her ears.
[Ding!]
The mechanical voice, which usually sounded emotionless, actually seemed somewhat intimate in this completely void environment.
[Detected that the Host is exploring the forbidden land Return to Ruins. Achievement triggered — Lower Realm Loiterer]
[System Notification: Epic achievement triggered — Lower Realm Loiterer]
Lower Realm Loiterer: Explore all seven forbidden lands in the Lower Realm. Completion [5/7]
[Completing the Lower Realm Loiterer achievement rewards a random Supreme Immortal Technique (Complete Version)]
This made Lin Wan temporarily dispel this idea.
In any case, she was not in a rush for time. Since she was already here, she naturally had to explore a bit.
As one of the three great Ancient Forbidden Lands, the Return to Ruins could not really just be a patch of void, right?
She recalled the legends of the Return to Ruins that Ji Hongli had once told her.
"The Return to Ruins is the Great Valley of Eternity."
"Legend has it that when the Primordial Wilderness first opened, the waters of the Four Seas poured into the Return to Ruins. There is no sun or moon rotating, and even the River of Time is swallowed and distorted."
...
In the darkness, Lin Wan suddenly caught a keyword—water.
Since the Return to Ruins was once the place where the waters of the Four Seas converged, there must be some residual flow in this void.
Her mind moved slightly, and a strand of pale blue water light coiled around her fingertip. This was a strand of "Water Spirit Soul" condensed from Immortal Power; it could be called the water within water, and it was extremely sensitive.
"Go."
Lin Wan released her fingers. The strand of water light swirled in her palm like a living creature for a moment, then actually began to flow slowly towards a certain direction. In the absolute void, this faint blue light became the only landmark.
She followed closely behind.
There was no concept of time, no perception of distance. Lin Wan only felt as if she had been floating in the darkness for millions of years, or perhaps only an instant had passed.
Until—
"Splash..."
The sound of water suddenly came from ahead.
This was the first sound from the outside world Lin Wan had heard since falling into the Return to Ruins. At first, the sound was faint as a mosquito, but gradually it became clear as the roar of waves crashing against the shore.
Even more remarkably, the strand of water light she had guided from her fingertip suddenly became agitated. It sped towards the source of the sound like a fish returning to its nest.
Lin Wan quickened her pace.
Moist water vapor began to appear in the darkness, and the void gradually gained a sense of reality.
She felt her long hair brushed by a certain airflow, and her sleeves began to have weight.
The sound of water ahead became louder and louder. Vaguely, it seemed to be mixed with some ancient rhythm, like a sleeping giant beast snoring.
And that strand of guiding water light was now trembling with excitement, its blue light glowing intensely.
Lin Wan finally arrived at the source of the water sound.
The scene before her made her hold her breath.
In the boundless darkness, a water curtain reaching heaven and earth fell from the void. The water was inconceivably pure, like a galaxy pouring down from the Nine Heavens, or like the entire ocean suspended upside down in the sky.
Billions of hectares of seawater fell with a roar, forming a huge funnel in the void, with no end in sight at a glance.
The sound of the water was like thunder, shaking the void into trembling.
Lin Wan stood at the edge of the void and looked up.
The falling water curtain had no source, as if it had existed since the opening of the world, flowing forever, never ceasing.
When the water flow fell into the center of the vortex, it did not stir up waves, but rather balls of hazy water mist. These refracted colorful glimmers in the darkness, appearing illusory like a dream.
The scale of the vortex exceeded the limits of imagination.
Looking up, the water curtain seemed to connect the ends of heaven and earth. Looking down, the bottom of the funnel was bottomless. Only endless suction came from the abyss, from which even light could not escape.
Around the vortex, countless tiny water droplets floated in the darkness. Each reflected the reflection of the entire vortex, like thousands of miniature Return to Ruins.
Occasionally, huge masses of water separated from the water curtain, tracing beautiful arcs in the void, and finally merged into the center of the vortex, disappearing without a trace.
"This is... the legendary Sea Eye?"
That strand of Water Spirit Soul suddenly trembled violently. Its pale blue light flared up, and like a fish smelling the path home, it suddenly plunged into the pouring water curtain.
Lin Wan only hesitated for an instant.
She took a deep breath, her form turning into a stream of light, and rushed closely behind into the water column.
In an instant, a force of ten thousand jun came crushing from all directions!
Lin Wan could not help but let out a muffled groan. The Immortal Power throughout her body circulated frantically.
Fine ice crystal patterns appeared on the surface of her skin, and every inch of her bones made groans of being unable to bear the weight under the heavy pressure.
This water flow was actually heavier than the stars; every drop seemed to contain the weight of the entire ocean.
The Water Spirit Soul swam happily ahead, completely unaffected by the pressure. It circled and dove from time to time, as if guiding Lin Wan through this dangerous territory.
Lin Wan gritted her teeth and followed that blue light to dive downward.
Wherever her vision reached, there was only dark water flow.
Occasionally, huge bubbles floated up from the depths, actually sealing blurry images inside—the destruction of a certain dynasty, the fall of a certain immortal, or even the collapse of a star...
The pressure became greater and greater.
Lin Wan's body-protecting Immortal Light had already been compressed to the point of sticking to her skin. But she still stared fixedly at the strand of Water Spirit Soul ahead of her—it was becoming brighter and brighter, as if approaching some terrifying source.
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